It won't be too long before keyboards will be an unnecessary peripheral for PDAs because they'll be able to recognize the human voice. I have seen some demonstrations of speech-to-text that blew me away -- I had no idea that the field has come so far along. A recent article in Scientific American describes some recent advances in the technology.
Granted, it will take people a while to give up the tactile thrill of typing, and there will always be a need for keyboards (for those who can't or don't want to talk while they work), but I think that for PDAs and similar "portable" devices, it's the most natural choice for an input device.
There's an article out in Slashdot that pans the Space Station, but then gets into some actually interesting matter, like the increasing ability to actually do data mining. Data mining has long been a staple of hard science fiction, but the benefits of being able to/really/ do it are immense - less pollution, really clean data. There's just that nasty get-the-material to the factory issue. But that's why we need a space elevator, right?
CmdrTaco, on behalf of all writers, English teachers, linguists, crossword puzzle solvers and spelling bee champions, I would just like to say: "We love you!"
I'm glad that someone here has finally stated for the record the nearly blasphemous idea that IE might actually be a halfway decent browser. I've used Netscape since it grew out of Mosaic, and I stood by it religiously for years. I held on for dear life through the browser wars, and insisted to anyone who would listen that 4.7 was far superior to IE.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for 6, and probably anything that will come in the future. Netscape has joined the dark side, and I get chills any time I try to use it. It's not just the crash factor (they are, after all, still working on it), the bells and whistles, the terrible UI, or the lack of conformity to standards; The problem is also that IE now functions so cleanly and so smoothly that Netscape is hardly a contender anymore.
I hate to say it folks, but the battle is drawing to a finish, and Microsoft is emerging as the victor. Netscape made some serious blunders, and while they may scoop in a few dollars before they go, they will likely disappear within the next few years. The software company I work for has stopped bothering to support Netscape because it is so divergent, and also because within the next year or so it will lose market share until it finds itself in the company of Opera and Lynx.
The first night I tried out the PS2 as a DVD player, I decided to pack up my other (brand new) DVD player and give it to my parents. It has performed wonderfully ever since.
In spite of the various other complaints I've heard about the PS2, I've got to say that I think it's the best console on the market. In addition to the DVD thing, they've got better games (or will, at least) than Nintendo et al. are likely to come up with any time soon.
While I personally support the open source paradigm, I also support the right of individuals or corporations not to take part in it. If @home wants to have their documents be private, that is their right. Corporations have no obligation to make all of their information public.
I love Slashdot (I'm here aren't I?) but I'm getting really tired of this whole "All corporations are evil!" mentality. The guy published some of their internal documents. That's their private stuff. If someone published your old mash notes to your significant other, you'd probably want to squash it too. This is not a case of an independent reporter being "silenced" by the evil MegaCorp(tm), it's about some guy who took internal company documents and posted them publicly.
For crying out loud, let companies have some rights, okay?
I'm starting to think that some of the non-Rep-Dem parties might actually make it to the presidency; They're doing a great job of making them sound like the usual sort of president.
I'm so committed to ending this insane war on our civil liberties, that I've promised that hte very first thing I will do as President, from the Inauguration stand, is sign an unconditional pardon for all non-violent drug offenders currently serving their sentence in federal prison.
(I think he fails to notice that most of the people he's trying to get to vote for him are sitting at home eating cheetos rather than out voting).
Heroin is a sad addiction but one we need to accept and allow addicts to get heroin through doctors.
Am I the only person here who thinks that this is a ridiculously passive attitude?
it will also make groups like Christians feel safe from other faiths - so each will no longer feel the need to fight the other
Amazing -- thousands of years of religious conflict, all solved by voting for Browne!
I also want to make damn sure that poor writers are ripped off.
I'll take that as a typo.:o)
Anyway, it seems to me that both of these guys have exactly the same rhetoric, and the same plan on how they're going to get elected: "Vote for me, and I'll let you do whatever you want!" Unfortunately, I don't think that sort of attitude is particularly healthy for this country. I hope the other candidates have something halfway intelligent to say.
(and please don't mod me down just because you're Libertarian and don't like what I say. Thanks!):o)
You don't have a job, do you? You've never actually gone out and used a computer for work, have you?
Uhhh...actually I do, which is why I don't bother screwing around trying to run crappy MS apps on Linux when there are better Open Source programs available.
WINE shouldn't be used to port Microsoft applications that don't work well in the first place (especially when we have Star Office et al.), but instead to port great video games over to Linux.
Verily, the lack of video game support is one of the main reasons that the world has not yet converted entirely to Linux.
Medical usage of open source software has been shown to have beneficial effects, but it should only be used with a prescription and under a doctor's supervision. Recreational (i.e., non-medical) open source usage has been shown to result in neurological damage, increased appetite, and a lack of sexual potency.
Both Linux and the Microsoft OSes have long been considered PC-based, which is part of the reason that Macs have had a hard time taking off. OS X has the potential to bring back Macintosh in a big way because suddenly both Mac and PC can work together with a common operating system. (LinuxPPC and other flavors for Mac are great hacks, but I think that they failed to take advantage of the architecture as OS X does). Once again, Linux has brought together mortal enemies, and has promoted a spirit of peace, love, and understanding. (Or something like that).
What about this planet, or this one? Same or different? How many friends did Pluto invite to this party anyway? Or is USA Today struggling to take the coveted "Best Reporting of Old News" award away from MSNBC?
So basically the point of this article was to question whether or not Slashdot (where millions of well-informed and educated people go to get their tech news) should try harded to live up to the standards of, say, MSNBC or Fox News?
Personally, I'll take the occasional typo or repeated news story in favor of the brain-dead commercial news entity. Here we know that people are thinking, and that they are paying more attention to the industry than to pleasing the audience. Do you think that Dan Rather really gives a rat's nads about the stories he reads about? No -- He's just some guy they hired because he's got a nice voice.
I have often thought about using Napster as a medium for promoting my own music to the online community, but in practice I have found it *very* difficult to do so. The problem is that most people simply go online to search for something they already have in mind: Eminem, Dr. Dre, Metallica, Britney Spears, whatever. It is very unlikely that anyone is going to type in my name, and even if they did, it's only because they're already familiar with my music.
Napster is making a valiant effort to be perceived as a medium for new music, but they do not seem to be doing nearly as well as MP3.com is doing. MP3.com offers free music from independent artists, and has a built in system for promotions and rewards, rather than the Napster approach, which is simply to mention a new band on their home page now and then.
Wow I've gotten old. I can't believe fifteen years has gone by since the days of treating calloused thumbs and being constantly out of breath from blowing on those cool little gray cartriges.
Call 1-877-9NM-GIFT to order this underwater fantasy. It's a 118-foot luxury submarine that sleeps 11, displacing 380 tons, with an operating depth of 1,000 feet, submerged range of 160 nautical miles, and speed of 15 knots. Cruising range: 3,000+ nautical miles (sufficient for transatlantic crossings).
Tim and Bill were obvious choices...the editors would have gotten fired if they didn't put those two on top; Not, of course, because they really are that important, but because they're the big names. It would be like rating Yale and Harvard halfway down a top-ten list of colleges. It doesn't matter how good they are, they're just *supposed* to be at the top.
As far as Linus goes, I don't think we have anything to worry about....after all, he's going to be the most important tech person of this *coming* decade!
Slashdot Mirror
Granted, it will take people a while to give up the tactile thrill of typing, and there will always be a need for keyboards (for those who can't or don't want to talk while they work), but I think that for PDAs and similar "portable" devices, it's the most natural choice for an input device.
There's an article out in Slashdot that pans the Space Station, but then gets into some actually interesting matter, like the increasing ability to actually do data mining. Data mining has long been a staple of hard science fiction, but the benefits of being able to /really/ do it are immense - less pollution, really clean data. There's just that nasty get-the-material to the factory issue. But that's why we need a space elevator, right?
CmdrTaco, on behalf of all writers, English teachers, linguists, crossword puzzle solvers and spelling bee champions, I would just like to say: "We love you!"
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for 6, and probably anything that will come in the future. Netscape has joined the dark side, and I get chills any time I try to use it. It's not just the crash factor (they are, after all, still working on it), the bells and whistles, the terrible UI, or the lack of conformity to standards; The problem is also that IE now functions so cleanly and so smoothly that Netscape is hardly a contender anymore.
I hate to say it folks, but the battle is drawing to a finish, and Microsoft is emerging as the victor. Netscape made some serious blunders, and while they may scoop in a few dollars before they go, they will likely disappear within the next few years. The software company I work for has stopped bothering to support Netscape because it is so divergent, and also because within the next year or so it will lose market share until it finds itself in the company of Opera and Lynx.
In spite of the various other complaints I've heard about the PS2, I've got to say that I think it's the best console on the market. In addition to the DVD thing, they've got better games (or will, at least) than Nintendo et al. are likely to come up with any time soon.
Just wing it!
I love Slashdot (I'm here aren't I?) but I'm getting really tired of this whole "All corporations are evil!" mentality. The guy published some of their internal documents. That's their private stuff. If someone published your old mash notes to your significant other, you'd probably want to squash it too. This is not a case of an independent reporter being "silenced" by the evil MegaCorp(tm), it's about some guy who took internal company documents and posted them publicly.
For crying out loud, let companies have some rights, okay?
"Thank God we have it."
I love it when atheists say "Thank God" :)
They wanna give props to make sure they're not *too* condemned when they die.
I'm so committed to ending this insane war on our civil liberties, that I've promised that hte very first thing I will do as President, from the Inauguration stand, is sign an unconditional pardon for all non-violent drug offenders currently serving their sentence in federal prison.
(I think he fails to notice that most of the people he's trying to get to vote for him are sitting at home eating cheetos rather than out voting).
Heroin is a sad addiction but one we need to accept and allow addicts to get heroin through doctors.
Am I the only person here who thinks that this is a ridiculously passive attitude?
it will also make groups like Christians feel safe from other faiths - so each will no longer feel the need to fight the other
Amazing -- thousands of years of religious conflict, all solved by voting for Browne!
I also want to make damn sure that poor writers are ripped off.
I'll take that as a typo. :o)
Anyway, it seems to me that both of these guys have exactly the same rhetoric, and the same plan on how they're going to get elected: "Vote for me, and I'll let you do whatever you want!" Unfortunately, I don't think that sort of attitude is particularly healthy for this country. I hope the other candidates have something halfway intelligent to say.
(and please don't mod me down just because you're Libertarian and don't like what I say. Thanks!) :o)
Uhhh...actually I do, which is why I don't bother screwing around trying to run crappy MS apps on Linux when there are better Open Source programs available.
Verily, the lack of video game support is one of the main reasons that the world has not yet converted entirely to Linux.
:o)
For that matter, is Pluto even a planet?
Personally, I'll take the occasional typo or repeated news story in favor of the brain-dead commercial news entity. Here we know that people are thinking, and that they are paying more attention to the industry than to pleasing the audience. Do you think that Dan Rather really gives a rat's nads about the stories he reads about? No -- He's just some guy they hired because he's got a nice voice.
Napster is making a valiant effort to be perceived as a medium for new music, but they do not seem to be doing nearly as well as MP3.com is doing. MP3.com offers free music from independent artists, and has a built in system for promotions and rewards, rather than the Napster approach, which is simply to mention a new band on their home page now and then.
Call 1-877-9NM-GIFT to order this underwater fantasy. It's a 118-foot luxury submarine that sleeps 11, displacing 380 tons, with an operating depth of 1,000 feet, submerged range of 160 nautical miles, and speed of 15 knots. Cruising range: 3,000+ nautical miles (sufficient for transatlantic crossings).
As far as Linus goes, I don't think we have anything to worry about....after all, he's going to be the most important tech person of this *coming* decade!